By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Local media outlets are reporting that in a surprising bidding war, HonorHealth has outbid fellow healthcare system Banner Health in an auction for a 48-acre Arizona State Land Department parcel near Hayden Road and the Loop 101 freeway in north Scottsdale.
Banner was the initial applicant for the auction, requesting to purchase the land as the site for its proposed 951KSF Banner Health North Scottsdale Medical Campus. To be built in three phases, the development was to include a 385KSF acute patient care hospital of up to 300 beds, supporting uses, parking structures, helipads, medical office space, and a potential cancer care center.
Banner had filed rezoning and conditional use permit requests for the proposal with the City of Scottsdale, and hearings were scheduled for Dec. 12.
HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte, however, came to the public auction on Nov. 16 and entered into a 15-minute bidding war with Banner Health CFO Dennis Laraway. The minimum bid for the site had been set at $56.95M. In back-and-forth bidding, LaPorte eventually drove the price up to $84M. Laraway conceded the fight at that point, telling media representatives afterward that any higher price would have made the costs untenable.
After the auction, LaPorte said HonorHealth has no plans to build on the site and that area residents are currently sufficiently served by HonorHealth Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic. He estimated the HonorHealth network’s current facilities have enough growth capacity to serve demand for at least the next 10 years but added this week’s land purchase gives HonorHealth still more growth opportunities.